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Commissioners and Bureaus

MONDAY, JUNE 3, 2013 – Mayor Charlie Hales has reassigned the bureaus of the City of Portlandto members of the Portland City Council, effective 8 a.m. Tuesday, June 4.

“Holding the bureaus under the mayor’s auspices allowed us to tackle the worst city budget anyone remembers, with a $21.5 million shortfall,” Hales said. “That’s done. It’s time to move forward with our commission mode of government.”

Effective Tuesday, bureau assignments include:

Mayor Charlie Hales

• Portland Police Bureau

• Portland Development Commission

• Bureau of Planning and Sustainability

• Fire & Police Disability and Retirement

• Office of Neighborhood Involvement

• Office of Equity and Human Rights

• Office of Management and Finance

• Office of Government Relations

• City Attorney

• City Budget Office

• Oversight of the Willamette River Super Fund clean-up project.

Commissioner Dan Saltzman

• Bureau of Housing

• Bureau of Fire & Rescue

• Gateway Domestic Violence Center

• Portland Children’s Investment Fund (Children’s Levy)

• Liaison to the League of Oregon Cities; Travel Portland; Visitors Development Fund; and Home Forward

When Mayor Hales took over the bureaus in February, he said he wanted to create a “board of directors” on the City Council. “I wanted commissioners asking tough questions about all of the bureaus, not just about ‘their’ bureau,” he said.

“I feel we accomplished that. Now we have to keep it up,” Hales said. “I’ve shaken up the bureau assignments and have given commissioners new bureaus, where possible. This will allow commissioners to interact, and to share their passion and knowledge for the various bureaus. We also will continue our new practice of combining two commissioners as a subcommittee, focusing on some particular problem or opportunity forPortland.”

Hales said bureau reassignments likely are a “bigger deal inside City Hall” than around the city.

“If you wake up, brush your teeth, walk your child to school, pass a park on your way to a business that is built in, and protected by, city services, you’ve interacted with half of the city’s bureaus. What you want are reliable services provided, and taxes and utility rates kept low. You want your city’s elected leaders to manager their bureaus well, and to work together as an effective team. So that’s our mission.”

Hales said he took into account the strengths and passions of each commissioner. “Bureaus need to focus on the basic services they provide. But they also need to work well with each other, and to be accountable to an elected leader. That’s where our commission style of government helps.”

Hales also gave each commissioner a set of goals he is asking them to achieve: maintaining environmentally friendly policies; forcefully seeking equity; and looking for efficiencies in day-to-day bureau duties.

Mayor’s Bureaus

Some of the mayor’s own assignments are inevitable – Portland mayors historically have had oversight for Management and Finance, as well as the Police Bureau. Others, like the city attorney and the city’s lobbyists, fit naturally into the mayoral role.

Other assignments blend well together: Planning and Sustainability, along with the Portland Development Commission, are future-oriented.

Likewise, the mayor’s priority of community policing fits well with Police Bureau, the Office of Neighborhood involvement and the Office of Equity and Human Rights. “Blending those efforts strengthens each,” Hales said. “It creates a nexus of community empowerment. Plus, it elevates their profile.”

The mayor also is taking the “bureau” of the Willamette River Superfund clean-up project.

“Only the mayor can take this,” he said. “The project requires working closely with various federal agencies, state agencies, tribal governments and the public sector. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Commissioner Nick Fish – who has the Water Bureau and Bureau of Environmental Services – we will make sure that Portland is a responsible partner in this Herculean task.”

However, Hales also said the entire Portland City Council will need to come together as the plan evolves to clean up the river – and to keep it clean for generations to come.